According to Runoia lore, as told by Joan “Baynie” Williams, may she rest in peace, the Runoia bathrooms got the name PIX on the train from Grand Central Station to Belgrade Depot.
The Belgrade Train Depot
Back in the day campers would arrive with their trunks at Grand Central for the train to camp. Both Runoia girls and Pine Island boys would voyage on said train. Of course the ride was chaperoned but there were plenty of shenanigans to go around, as you can only imagine.
Girls being girls and boys being boys back in the 1920s pretty much stayed with their own kind. The rueful glance, a random prank and other tit for tat ensued. The boys from Pine Island Camp wore their camp shirts that said PIC. After a few years of trips back and forth, Baynie and her gang decided the name for the Runoia bathrooms should be called the PIX (clever disguise) – as you can see an acronym not to far from the initials of that boys camp across the lake!
So, to this day, the Runoia bathroom is called the Pix.
We Call it the Pix!
I’ve noticed in the past decade that the word pix is falling from the vocab of the current campers and counselors. As many traditions go, it only remains a thing if people keep saying things like “I am going to the Pix” or “I have to go to the Pix” or “Will you come with me to the Pix?” or “Where’s the closest Pix” (Come on folks, I’m spoon feeding you here – let’s keep it going!). Runoia alumnae out there, you know you are horrified at the thought of Pix disappearing from the vocabulary, right? It’s our 110th summer and we will make an effort at bringing back this 90+ year tradition!
Maybe our next blog should be on how to resuscitate lost traditions!
This week I took a giant risk for my family. It was a spur of the moment decision forced by a series of events that led me to take the leap. I briefly weighed the pros and cons and decided that there was nothing to lose so I forged ahead. If it works out there will be a few major obstacles to overcome but the rewards will be worth it, if nothing comes of it then life will continue as it currently does and truly other than about $40 nothing will have been lost.
Risk taking is part of human nature, as a species we enjoy learning from our own experiences and living in the moments when we are challenging ourselves. Taking risks is something we all do every day, some risks are measured and undertaken with great clarity and hope of a positive end result others are more reckless and can lead to potentially negative consequences. Being able to judge the difference is a critical life skill.
As an adult my previous risk taking history helped me to gauge whether or not this current risk is worth talking. Fortunately children have adults to guide them in their choices and steer them from choices that would result in disaster. It is advantageous to their development if we are able to provide our children with the opportunity to take measured risks. Children benefit from challenging themselves and their own decision making. Much is learned by trying and succeeding but we also learn from trying and failing.
Camp provides endless opportunity for safe risk taking in both emotional and physical forums. You can reach out to a new friend, literally take the ‘Leap of Absolute Faith’ on the ropes course intentionally capsize your boat to practice your own self rescue skills, try new food, act in a play, try to reach the top of a mountain and so the list goes on.
Our campers at Runoia are encouraged to take on new challenges and are of course fully supported by caring adults, safety procedures and a community that is looking out for them. Through their adventures at overnight camp girls can gain life skills. The decision making processes that they develop will help them to weigh the pros and cons of future risks that will inevitably challenge them.
The summer of 2015 is awesomely reflected In the words of our Dream Team 2015 Counselors and staff.
I love working at Runoia. It really is a truly amazing thing that happens. I get the opportunity to make lasting friendships with amazing people, to pass on skills that I value very highly to a group of fantastic girls, and build my leadership skills more than I could at just about any other job. To the director team, thank you for giving me the opportunity to have two of the best summers of my life and for supporting me!
Personally, there were many highlights of the summer. I enjoyed watching the bond between everyone grow and it definitely showed during campfire and EP. Not only did I create bonds with campers, but I created friendships with the staff that I will hopefully stay in touch with! Seeing the kids improve in their skills and to be excited about trying something new was rewarding. It felt good to see the results of your hard work.
I loved every trip I went on. The Katahdin and Saddleback trips stood out as my favorite.
There are too many highlights to mention them all. I love Runoia because of the amazing experience it provides girls from all over the world. The biggest challenge for me was saying goodbye to campers and staff alike.
The highlights were all of the experiences I had with teaching the girls. It was so rewarding to have a girl come back to my activity and remind me of something I had told her or be able to do something without needing to be reminded. Seeing their smiling faces everyday was always amazing too.
I just want to say that this summer at Runoia was the best summer of my life and I am so thankful to be a part of the Runoia Dream Team!
We couldn’t have said it any better.
Thanks to our amazing ‘Dream Team’ staff! We hope to see you all in 2016.
As a 20-years-old Hungarian girl it was quite a big deal for me last year when I decided to apply for a summer camp counselor program at Camp Leaders to work and travel in the U.S.
So on June 17th 2014 the biggest adventure in my life had started. I was really excited when I said goodbye to my parents at the airport but surprisingly not scared at all. I was facing a 10-hour flight from Budapest to Boston and when I arrived at camp I’d been awake for almost 24 hours. Fortunately a ready-to-sleep bed was waiting for me at camp.
Hamming it up with Mark on the lake
I had expected that I will learn thousands of new things during the summer: food, animals, games, songs, places, language, traditions, rules, different cultures and many new people. And my expectations weren’t false – I had widened my perspective in many ways.
Hungary is a really small country in Europe – only about 36,000 sq miles so as the State of Maine. Now you can imagine how unbelievably huge is the U.S. for me that I only realized first during my one month travels after camp.
I have learned Runoia terms like EP, QP, Mahadin, Lodge, Gaga, green machine, CIT etc. I had the opportunity to join flag raisings, hear loons at night, celebrate 4th of July, sit on a yellow school bus, eat Gifford’s ice cream and dirt pudding, and sing all the Runoia songs at campfire while eating marshmallows. And of course I was able to teach my favorite activity, sailing for the kids.
Laura out sailing with campers
I’m really grateful for that summer at Runoia where I’ve met a lot of wonderful people who I am able to see again hopefully in a few months for the summer of 2015.
Laura Meszaros, from Hungary, lived in junior end and taught sailing in 2014.
This summer during their 7 weeks at camp our incredible group of CIT’s managed to fit in more than 20 hours each of community service. They participated in a wide range of activities from seeking out invasive Eurasian milfoil along our camp shoreline to running the kids table at the local Aquafest.
They put to use the skills they gained through their CIT program while also providing much needed support to local organizations that rely on volunteers to operate.
They also increased Camp Runoia’s visibility in our local community and built positive connections between camp and area organizations. They were able to chat with summer visitors about the camp experience and the value camp plays in their lives.
It was a powerful experiential learning experience for the girls and the skills they worked on translated easily to other aspects of their CIT program and to their everyday lives. The lifelong skills and enthusiasm for volunteer service that they built at camp will stay with them as they grow and learn in life.
What are you doing to make a difference in your community?
The end of February comes quickly with the short calendar month and the longer days in Maine’s winter season. Every day the sun shines longer and brighter and we dream of the days when we hear the screen doors slam, girls voices in laughter, song and friendship.
So much happens at camp.
Wilderness Trips Build Lifelong Skills
There’s growth and learning, building of lifelong skills in activities and receiving support to navigate independently within the community of camp. Other aspects:
Becoming your personal best
Finding friends and building relationships throughout the summers of youth and beyond.
Working through the agony of defeat and experiencing the glory of trying something for the first time.
Guiding our Runoia campers are dedicated youth professionals; coaching, supporting, and making campers laugh when they thought they were going to cry. Basically camp counselors become the adults campers treasure and look up to for years to come. Counselors focus on campers building skills, increasing self-esteem, learning to advocate and being the “stand up girl”. They also create a lot of laugh-out-loud moments in the process.
Skill Building at Camp Runoia…… Happens All Day Long
Our parents are thankful Runoia is so much more than s’mores and fun. Sure we have that going on, but, the depth of camp: learning about yourself and what you contribute to the whole, intentional youth development and life skill building is farther afield for your every day camp program.
One parent sent me an email and this link this week:
A letter to a daughter which applies to all young girls and woman – so perfectly written and seems to fit with the Camp Runoia way so wanted to pass it on:
When I read Dr. Flanagan’s letter to his daughter I had to share as he so eloquently expressed the message my husband and I hope our 14-year-old daughter and 16 and 18-year-old sons live by. I only hope my husband and I are teaching these lessons daily by our example. I am a bit disheartened at the direction corporate culture has taken, not only increasing these societal expectations on young girls but also more recently targeting young boys as well. The eternal optimist in me knows we have wonderful examples all around our children – teachers, neighbors, camp counselors, scientists… to name a few. We simply need to help our children and ourselves understand these are the people we need to emulate rather then the false role models created by corporate marketers.
This week Camp Runoia recognizes National Eating Disorder week. We encourage parents to take stock in the Runoia parent’s declaration (above). Also:
Explore resources with your children that include media literacy*, including awareness of advertising and marketing manipulation of girls (and boys).
Help your children to understand how they are marketed toward to “fit in”, “feel good about themselves” and the falseness this perpetuates at the risk of their own youth and their self esteem.
Leadership Skills Happen at Every Age Group at Runoia
Hats off to camps around the nation that delve a little deeper into the camp experience; to the camps practicing 21st century skill building, youth development and creating communities to belong to without fear of prejudice, exclusive cliques, look-ism or humiliation.
Thanks to our Camp Runoia parent who brought Dr. Flanagan’s letter to our attention enabling us to share with our camp community, peers and professionals in camp.
And, finally, how many days before we are back in our camp “bubble” where our girls can take pressure off themselves, rub a little dirt in their palms and grow into the young people they will become? Not too many – its nearly noon and the sun is still high in the late February sky!
*www.hghw.org is a girl-serving organization teaching media literacy and much more – check it out!
